Physical Forces Shape Group Identity of Swimming Pseudomonas putida Cells.

ABSTRACT: The often striking macroscopic patterns developed by motile bacterial populations on agar plates are a consequence of the environmental conditions where the cells grow and spread. Parameters such as medium stiffness and nutrient concentration have been reported to alter cell swimming behavior, while mutual interactions among populations shape collective patterns. One commonly observed occurrence is the mutual inhibition of clonal bacteria when moving toward each other, which results in a distinct halt at a finite distance on the agar matrix before having direct contact. The dynamics behind this phenomenon (i.e., intolerance to mix in time and space with otherwise identical others) has been traditionally explained in terms of cell-to-cell competition/cooperation regarding nutrient availabil

SUBMITTER: Espeso DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5025637 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature